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“Crazy Like A Fox”, by Rita Mae Brown, is part of the “Sister Jane” series. (Brown also writes the “Sneaky Pie Brown series, and has written several stand-alone books, including “Rubyfruit Jungle”.) As with Sister Jane, Brown is a Master of Foxhounds.

Sister finds herself in the middle of a very perplexing puzzle – a valuable cowhorn, belonging to Wesley Carruthers, has been stolen. Carruthers himself is an enigma, having disappeared in 1954 – presumed dead. However, someone looking and speaking very much like Carruthers (aka Weevil) let a video behind on the cell phone of one of Sister’s friends. (The ladies had been visiting the exhibit, and the phone was accidentally left behind.)

The stolen cowhorn brings up issues from the past, including Weevil’s history with women (single and married), and an argument that has two brothers not talking to each other for over twenty years. Then there is the issue of jewelry that seemed to have disappeared about the same time that Weevil did.

I loved that Brown brought Tootie back as part of the Jefferson Hunt, as well as bringing Tootie’s mother deeper into the series. Per usual, everyone has a voice, including the animals: the foxhounds (Cora, Asa, Diana and Dasher), the foxes (Aunt Netty, Earl, Comet, Inky, and Georgia), the horses (Keepsake, Rickyroo, Showboat and Iota), the birds (Athena, Bitsy, and St. Just), and the house pets (Raleigh (a Doberman), Rooster (a Harrier), and Golliwog (a long haired Calico cat).

I love reading about the background and history of the hunt, the culture of Virginia, and about the fact that to understand the present we need to understand the past. In this book, we are introduced to what may be a ghost – a ghost who blows the stolen horn during foxhunts, and does it in such a way that everyone who knew him thinks it is Weevil himself blowing the horn. Then there are the strange appearances of a young man (the age of Weevil when he disappeared) holding conversations with people from his time (and saving Tootie from a gun toting individual who is protecting his marijuana crop!).

Brown is one of two authors that immediately come to mind that cannot write a bad book (the second being Laurie R. King). Her characters are in depth, her background is well researched, and her books keep a strong pace.